Using Overlays
Effective Overlay Use Modifying Overlays Moving Objects Between Overlays Frozen Overlays
Overlays are different layers of your drawing that can be selectively viewed or hidden. They can make producing several variants of the same map very easy. You can think about them as computer controlled transparencies. All actions with overlays are controlled by the overlay toolbar.
Every view that you create preserves the state of visible and frozen overlays. You can make multiple views to easily switch back and forth between multiple sets of overlays that you commonly enable together.
Every object you add to a map belongs to an overlay. Hiding an overlay hides every object belonging to the overlay, and the same with viewing an overlay. Although you cannot normally see what overlay an object belongs to, the settings toolbar has a button (
) for quick toggling of an overlay display mode. There are two methods of displaying the overlay, which you can set to your preference.
Some ways you can use overlays to your advantage:
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For very simple maps that you only will view in one way, don't mess with overlays at all. By default all objects will go into the Design overlay.
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For a dungeon, you may only need two overlays: one for what the players see and one for the D.M.
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For maps that you want to present in stages, use a new overlay for each stage. As the players gain more information, they can be presented a new map with more overlays visible to mark their newfound knowledge.
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In the landscaping example there is an overlay for future additions so you can easily switch back and forth between the current layout and future plan.
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Dungeons with multiple levels may benefit from making each level an overlay. If the dungeon has lots of vertical features that link levels together, putting each level on an overlay lets you line up the map features properly.
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You can draw drafting aids on an overlay and freeze that overlay. For example, you may have a group of features in a circle; draw the circle on an overlay, freeze the overlay, and draw the remaining features over it.
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If you have access to a laser and color printer, you may find that some features don't reproduce well on one or the other. Place features for a specific printer on different overlays. Topographic coloring may only look good on a color printer, whereas complex drawings may only show well on a laser printer.